A message from Nicole
Nedeff, Vice President
The Wilderness Land Trust

HISTORIC HORSE PASTURE PROTECTED FOR
WILDERNESS

A note from DC -
Robert and Anna Beck sold Tassajara Hot Springs to the SF Zen Center in
December of 1966. It was one of three private 160 acre in-holdings in
the Los Padres National Forrest that they owned. The SFZC bought the
second one, the Pines, a while back - maybe the seventies. I'm not sure
what its status is now - either owned by the SFZC or land-trusted I bet.
The fate of the third piece, the Horse Pasture, has been unsure until now.
I was happy to have had the role of introducing Bettina Ring of the
Wilderness Land Trust to Robert and Adam. It's so great to have the Horse
Pasture preserved au natural like this. The first fundraising we did in
1966 was to buy it, not Tassajara, which became available at the last
moment. The Horse Pasture is used extensively by the students and guests
at Tassajara for hiking, picnics, and sometimes ceremonies. Clay and I
walked it not long ago. Robert and Anna's daughter Katie's ashes are
there. Later this year, Robert's ashes will join hers. All the Becks are
truly benefactors of the SFZC, of Buddhism, of the Monterrey area, and of
all beings.

CARMEL VALLEY, CA:
The Wilderness Land Trust announced today that it has purchased the
historic Horse Pasture property in the northern Ventana Wilderness of the
Los Padres National Forest. With partnership funding provided by the
Big Sur Land Trust, the Wilderness Land Trust purchased the 160-acre
property from Robert and Adam Beck of San Anselmo and Anna Beck of Carmel.
Sadly, Robert Beck passed away just days before the sale was finalized.
Robert and Anna Beck are the former owners of Tassajara Hot Springs.

Anna Beck and her son
Adam said of the Horse Pasture land sale to the Trust, "We are grateful
that the legacy of our family land will always be wilderness." The
Wilderness Land Trust will donate the Horse Pasture property to the United
States Forest Service for incorporation into the adjacent Ventana
Wilderness. Adding the Horse Pasture to the Wilderness Area will expand
the Ventana Wilderness to 240,184 acres and guarantees that the popular
Horse Pasture Trail will remain open for public enjoyment in perpetuity.

The Horse Pasture was
named for the flat meadows once used by wranglers to pasture livestock
when stage coaches serviced the nearby Tassajara Hot Springs. The
inholding was identified as a high priority conservation acquisition
because of watershed and recreational features, as well as the potential
threat of development as a wilderness retreat. "The rising value of
undeveloped property in Monterey County made selling the land attractive
for the owners and we are thankful that we could step in to secure the
site and maintain its wilderness values," said Nikki Nedeff, Vice
President of the Wilderness Land Trust.

The parcel is vegetated
with chamise-dominated chaparral and a Mixed Oak - Coulter Pine forest.
Stands of the endemic Santa Lucia fir are tucked into rocky canyons that
flank the meadows. Springs on the property contribute perennial flow to
tributaries serving Tassajara Creek, which provides spawning habitat for
the anadromous steelhead trout that negotiate difficult passage upstream
through the Salinas and Arroyo Seco watershed.

Financing for a portion
of the project came from the Big Sur Land Trust. "We are happy to partner
on this important acquisition and increase the lands of the Ventana
Wilderness. Our partnership with the Wilderness Land Trust is an exciting
new approach for BSLT and continues our tradition of conserving lands in
the Central Coast," said Bill Leahy, Executive Director of the Big Sur
Land Trust.

"Transferring this
property into public ownership will help ensure conservation of the
valuable resources this land has to offer for future generations. This is
an important opportunity made possible through public/private
partnerships," said Reid Haughey, President of the Wilderness Land Trust,
from the Carbondale, Colorado headquarters of the organization.

Founded in 1993, the
Wilderness Land Trust is a non-profit, publicly supported charity that
works to purchase private lands (inholdings) within wilderness and
transfer these properties to public ownership through voluntary mechanisms
that respect landowner property rights and values. The Trust has protected
over 20,600 acres of land in 57 different wilderness areas across
California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
The Trust purchased the Horse Pasture property as part of its ongoing
effort to complete California's wilderness system by working with willing
sellers to acquire and transfer over 100,000 acres of remaining private
inholdings to public ownership.

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The Horse Pasture: used
to graze livestock that transported visitors to the nearby Tassajara Hot
Springs deep in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest.

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Additional photos are
available by request. For more information contact Nikki Nedeff at
831/659-4252 or 415/606-5895, or visit our website at
www.wildernesslandtrust.org